Little Women eBook

“I did fail, say what you will, for Jo wouldn’t
love me,” began Laurie, leaning his head on
his hand in a despondent attitude.

“No, you didn’t, and you’ll say
so in the end, for it did you good, and proved that
you could do something if you tried. If you’d
only set about another task of some sort, you’d
soon be your hearty, happy self again, and forget
your trouble.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Try it and see. You needn’t shrug
your shoulders, and think, ‘Much she knows about
such things’. I don’t pretend to
be wise, but I am observing, and I see a great deal
more than you’d imagine. I’m interested
in other people’s experiences and inconsistencies,
and though I can’t explain, I remember and use
them for my own benefit. Love Jo all your days,
if you choose, but don’t let it spoil you, for
it’s wicked to throw away so many good gifts
because you can’t have the one you want.
There, I won’t lecture any more, for I know
you’ll wake up and be a man in spite of that
hardhearted girl.”

Neither spoke for several minutes. Laurie sat
turning the little ring on his finger, and Amy put
the last touches to the hasty sketch she had been
working at while she talked. Presently she put
it on his knee, merely saying, “How do you like
that?”

He looked and then he smiled, as he could not well
help doing, for it was capitally done, the long, lazy
figure on the grass, with listless face, half-shut
eyes, and one hand holding a cigar, from which came
the little wreath of smoke that encircled the dreamer’s
head.

“How well you draw!” he said, with a genuine
surprise and pleasure at her skill, adding, with a
half-laugh, “Yes, that’s me.”

“As you are. This is as you were.”
and Amy laid another sketch beside the one he held.

It was not nearly so well done, but there was a life
and spirit in it which atoned for many faults, and
it recalled the past so vividly that a sudden change
swept over the young man’s face as he looked.
Only a rough sketch of Laurie taming a horse.
Hat and coat were off, and every line of the active
figure, resolute face, and commanding attitude was
full of energy and meaning. The handsome brute,
just subdued, stood arching his neck under the tightly
drawn rein, with one foot impatiently pawing the ground,
and ears pricked up as if listening for the voice
that had mastered him. In the ruffled mane,
the rider’s breezy hair and erect attitude, there
was a suggestion of suddenly arrested motion, of strength,
courage, and youthful buoyancy that contrasted sharply
with the supine grace of the ‘Dolce far Niente’
sketch. Laurie said nothing but as his eye went
from one to the other, Amy saw him flush up and fold
his lips together as if he read and accepted the little
lesson she had given him. That satisfied her,
and without waiting for him to speak, she said, in
her sprightly way . . .

“Don’t you remember the day you played
Rarey with Puck, and we all looked on? Meg and
Beth were frightened, but Jo clapped and pranced,
and I sat on the fence and drew you. I found
that sketch in my portfolio the other day, touched
it up, and kept it to show you.”